For the past four years Bailieborough Shamrocks have been playing their stuff as an intermediate outfit and there can be little argument that they have consistently been one of the better sides in the grade. In September, they were again narrowly pipped to be denied a place in the championship decider.

It's fair to say that Bailieborough Shamrocks have been knocking on heaven's door now for quite a while, but it seems if the town side genuinely want to get back to the county's premier competition they are going to have to stop knocking and start kicking.
Few can deny the pedigree of this Bailieborough side at their current level but they haven't been able to secure promotion in recent years. In '09 Lavey shaded them in the last four before going on to reach an Ulster final while the year before that Redhills beat them at the quarter-final stage before winning the competition outright.

In '07 it was much the same as Ballinagh rallied late on to send the Shamrocks packing before going on to win an Ulster IFC title. The reputation of nearly men is not a tag that this team wants to pick up according to team captain Declan O'Reilly, after a high-flying Drumlane outfit overcame them in a semi-final replay this time around.
"Obviously it is disappointing to have lost so many semi-finals but what can you do. I can't pinpoint exactly what is going wrong. I don't think it is a lack of belief or anything like that.

"In fairness each year we have been beaten by the team that has gone on to win it so I don't think we are all that far away at all. We can take some consolation in the fact that Ballinagh went on to win Ulster and Lavey made it to the final but that doesn't make it any easier to accept," he said.
There is no doubt that Bailieborough will look back upon the first game against Drumlane in particular and think what might have been. The club, who last won the senior championship back in 1995, gave a battling performance against Drumlane although unfortunately for them when the game was there for the taking they just couldn't fully kill off the challenge of the west Cavan men as it finished 1-7 apiece.

Although Drumlane got the better start at Kingspan Breffni Park, the Shamrocks took over after that, wiping out their deficit while missing two goal chances of their own to move into a 0-5 to 0-2 lead, via scores from Paddy Bird, who was in exceptional form at full-forward, Niall Kelly and Andy Coleman.
Midway through the second-half though a quick 1-1 from Drumlane looked to have swung it their way but a brilliant goal from Bird, after being set up expertly by Paul Sharkey, gave them the lead in the dying minutes. Again though Drumlane came back strong and drew level.

In the dying seconds Dessie Reilly had an excellent chance to snatch the victory and almost snuck it for the Shamrocks; only for his last-gasp effort to meander agonisingly wide at the last second.
The replay turned out to be a much more disappointing night for the club as they managed just five points on the night compared to Drumlane's nine.
They started well and edged into an early 0-3 to 0-0 lead after ten minutes but it all went downhill from there. The west Cavan men produced a sterling second-half performance to see off the town side that finished with 13 men after Bird and Dessie Reilly saw red.


In fairness Bailieborough did create chances throughout the game but Drumlane goalkeeper Darren Murphy pulled off a stunning save to deny Niall Kelly a certain goal at a crucial time when the contest was very much still in the melting pot.
The Drumlane rearguard held out which brought the curtains
down on Bailieborough's season a stage before they would have liked.
Bailieborough (IFC v Drumlane): James Cooney; Calvin Daly, Declan O'Reilly, Kieran O'Reilly; Peter Clerkin, Gerry Sheridan, Niall Comey; Sean Cooney (0-1), David Rooney; Paul O'Reilly(0-1), Andy Coleman (0-1), Dessie Reilly; Niall Kelly, Paddy Bird (0-1), Paul Sharkey (0-1f).

"Looking back on the season I honestly feel that we should have made the championship final at least," said Reilly.
"The first day out against Drumlane we were definitely the better team in my opinion and we should have won. Maybe looking back on it we did leave it behind us but at the same time I thought we should have ran them closer in the replay.
"The second time against us we were level at four points each at half-time and were still well in it. In fairness to them, they are a good team and they drove it on well in the second-half and pulled clear of us but I just can't help but look back on the first day thinking 'what if'," added the team captain.

Reilly is determined to ensure that his team-mates don't start feeling sorry for themselves and wants them to come back a more mature and experienced outfit next year after suffering yet more heartbreak in the last four.
"We have plenty of young lads coming on and we are a fairly young team. There was only three or four of us this year that were actually older than 25. So I would be hoping we can learn from the experiences of this year and the last few years," he stated.

"We brought a few of the Killan Gaels minor winning team through year like Niall Kelly, Niall Comey and Kieran O'Reilly and you would like to think a few more can make the step-up in the future."
Earlier in the competition Bailieborough done well to emerge from their group which also involved local rivals Killinkere as well as the '09 beaten finalists Cootehill. A win and a draw there respectively brought them into the last eight, where they were paired off with Kill. Reilly puts that form down to momentum gathered at the latter end of the league which carried into the group stages of the championship.

"Before the championship we got a few good league results and we carried some momentum into it which obviously helped in the group stages," he admitted. "We did well to get out of the group and we beat Kill fairly comfortably but we just couldn't make the final. Being honest I think we should have gotten at least that far."

After securing promotion from Division Three at the first attempt in '09, the league was always going to be about consolidation and they did exactly that. Eight points proved enough to secure a place above Butlersbridge and Drung, although the team never managed to set the world alight at any stage during the campaign. Victories over Butlersbridge, Cootehill and Killinkere were the high-points while there was also hard earned draws away to Shercock and at home to Drung.
However, Reilly felt the fact that there was no relegation from the ACFL Division Two meant there was less importance and competitiveness to certain games at the end of the season as teams who weren't chasing promotion literally had nothing to play for.

"The league was a bit disappointing alright but at the same time it was good just good to be back in Division Two after dropping down the year before. I would say we did okay in it. Not great but not bad at the same time. We never looked like we would be in the bottom two positions at all but we just couldn't kick on and drive up the league table.
"I suppose I would put it down to a lack of consistency. We probably could and should have been higher up the table but at the same time we were missing players all the time. Some were injured and some had work commitments but for one or two games we were missing up to ten lads which obviously makes things a lot harder.

"I suppose towards to end the league just died out because there was no relegation this year. The teams down the bottom I think were just going through the motions because they didn't anything to play or fight for," said the McKenna Cup panellist from 2010.
Looking ahead to the future there is no doubt the club has talented players coming through. The Under 21 team has been very competitive for the last number of years in Division Two, while the minors won their championship in '09 when joined with Shercock as Kilann Gaels. Reilly feels an intermediate title is definitely within their grasp and thinks that will be their main aim next season.
"Next year I would say our main ambition has to be the championship. We have been competing well for a few years so we will just have to try and find out where we can improve on.

"I would like to see us do better in the league early on and get some serious momentum going heading into championship football. I really don't think we are that far away from winning the championship. I'd like to thank the management team of Andy Scannell, Finbar Clarke and Martin Sharkey for all their work and effort over the year. It's just a pity we couldn't go all the way," said Reilly.

On the underage scene the club have also been competing well in recent years and they now have an outstanding clubhouse to avail of that was recently constructed in St. Anne's Park.
Next year is a big one for the club and there is no doubt they are gunning to get back to senior level. Tweet

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